Honey-roasted Duck Recipe | Food

Gordon Ramsay

Date Published:: 13/09/2007

Watch Gordon baste this duck

Gordon Ramsay and his brigade of amateur chefs served honey-roasted duck with a green bean and hazelnut salad, sautéed potatoes and garlic and onion confit to diners at the F Word restaurant

Serves 4

Ingredients

Honey-roasted duck

4 175g duck breasts, with skin on
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Pinch of Chinese five spice
Olive oil
1-2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp soy sauce
200g green beans
85g toasted hazelnuts
100ml hazelnut oil
200ml olive oil
100ml sherry vinegar

Sautéed potatoes with garlic and shallot confit

4 banana shallots, roots trimmed
2 large garlic cloves, peeled
75ml extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp caster sugar
Rock salt
1 sprig of thyme
1 bay leaf
6 medium potatoes, peeled (King Edwards or Maris Piper)
2 tbsp olive oil
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Knob of butter

Method: How to make honey-roasted duck

Tip

The confit can be stored in a screw-topped jar in the refrigerator for one week, or, if covered with a layer of olive oil, for up to one month.

1. Score the skin of the duck breasts in a criss cross pattern with a very sharp knife. Season the duck breast generously with salt and the five spice and rub into the skin thoroughly.

2. Place the duck breasts, skin-side down, on a dry ovenproof pan and cook over very low heat to render down most of the fat. This may take 8-10 minutes, depending on the thickness of the fat.

3. Now turn up the heat and fry until the skin is crisp. Turn the duck breasts over and cook the other side for another 3-4 minutes. Just before the duck is ready, drizzle the honey and soy sauce over. Toss and turn the duck in the honey and soy and cook until the liquid has reduced to a syrupy glaze. Transfer the duck to a warm plate and leave to rest for 5-10 minutes.

4. Get a pan of boiling water for the beans with a large pinch of salt. Add the beans to the water and cook for no more than one minute. Meanwhile, crush the hazelnuts lightly with a pestle and mortar. Drain the beans thoroughly and pat dry with kitchen paper. Whisk the oils and sherry vinegar together with some seasoning. Toss the beans in the vinaigrette to taste.

5. To serve, place the bean salad off centre on warm plates. Slice the duck lengthways and place on top. Drizzle any remaining pan juices over and finish with a small drizzle of the vinaigrette.

6. For the confit, use a large, sharp cook’s knife, chop the shallots and garlic into very fine dice. Place the shallots and garlic into a heavy-based saucepan with the extra virgin olive oil, a light sprinkling of salt, the sugar, herbs and a splash of water.

7. Set the pan over high heat. When the oil becomes hot, adjust the heat to a moderate setting, give the shallots and garlic a stir and cover the pan with a lid. Cook for 20-25 minutes, shaking the pan from time to time and stirring every 5 minutes, to stop the shallots and garlic sticking to the bottom. You should be left with a soft, sweet and lightly golden shallot mixture. Set aside.

8. Cut the potatoes into 1 cm thick slices. Boil in salted water for 6 minutes until just tender. Drain well then pat dry between sheets of kitchen paper. Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over high heat. Add the potato slices and season with salt and pepper. Fry for about 3 minutes on each side until lightly golden.

9. Add a tablespoon of the confit and sauté for another 1-2 minutes, tossing and turning the potatoes, until golden and crisp at the edges. Add the butter towards the end then serve immediately.